Blood like Rain
by PointlessKnife
Summary: Bonds are treasured by Guilds. Guild mates complete one another, give their hearts reason to fight. Who would've thought that one battle could take so much.
Juvia loved Gray. There was no doubt about it and she'd do anything for him, just to make his eyes light up and his mouth twitch into his slight smile. She didn't care how much it hurt when he ignored her, every second of her love was worth it.

So she treasured her emotions, vowing never to become depressed, never to be gloomy like the rain, she never wanted to lose her happiness now she had it. Yet sometimes she felt doubt... Sometimes she'd wonder if Gray even liked her, but brushed off the concern, knowing that he would have talked to her about it if he didn't... At least, she hoped that was what would happen.

Now was one of those moments of doubts. A new dark guild had popped up and was giving the Magic Council trouble, so teams from each guild had been sent to deal with it. Typically, Fairy Tail was about as far away from the meeting point as one could get and they had a two day train journey to get there.

The team was made up of Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Juvia and Gajeel. This guild was particually harsh in their methods and the Master had put his foot down, so Wendy wasn't able to come. Natsu was whimpering in a corner as Lucy absently played with his hair. All eyes were glued to the lacrima Erza was using to show them the images of the victims of the guild. Within minutes, Lucy had joined Natsu and Gajeel in vomiting out of the window, and Juvia staggered to the toilet. Gray looked unsettled and edged towards the window.

"This." Erza said, sounding repulsed. "Was their latest victim."

"Oh man." Gray groaned. "These people are brutal."

"Yes," Erza agreed darkly. "Which is exactly why they must be stopped."

 _Don't worry Gray._ Juvia thought silently. _I won't let them touch you..._

The other groups all consisted of the most powerful mages the guilds could muster. Nobody started friendly chatter, the mood was far too sober. They had all seen what this guild had done. The mutilated bodies went far past the line of human decency.

"Are all the representatives of the guilds here?" Jura boomed, slamming his hand down on a table.

There was a chourus of people yelling 'yes' from the crowd.

"Right then, the guild we're looking for is-" The wizard saint never got to finish his sentence as the walls exploded around them.

"Really? Such a small number... My, my, the Magic Council must be losing its touch." A man dressed in black crowed.

"An attack? Now?" Erza gasped, re-quiping into her black wing armour.

"An attack..." Jura said quietly. "What happened to the guards?" He yelled.

The man smirked. He threw off his cloak to reveal black armour. Black and red. Blood dripped from the gleaming metal. There was so much blood, Juvia saw Gajeel and Natsu wrinkle their noses. Even from here, they must be able to smell the blood, meaning that the stench must be overpowering.

"Bastard." Natsu growled quietly.

"So much blood." Gajeel muttered, scowling.

"They were... Dealt with." The man assured them, running a hand through his pale blonde hair, streaking it with scarlet.

"I am Master Draco, of the Red Wing dark guild. I figured sooner or later people would be here to 'deal' with us." He laughed, clapping his hands. The dark guild must've had a teleporter, as suddenly the mages were surrounded.

"These flies are what were sent to crush us. Get them!" Draco yelled.

Juvia couldn't see the others as they were swarmed by waves of enemy mages. At first, the mages seemed weak, as the first two that tried to fight Juvia went down after two water slicer attacks.

She ended up fighting side by side by a mage she didn't know, and there was no time for discussion for her to learn his name. He used some kind of word magic, using words to enhance the properties of his weapons. Overall he was an admirable fighter and they attacked together, at least staying alive.

Still, they were getting tired fast and Juvia began to struggle to keep her attacks going. The other man she was fighting with suddenly got pushed down and let out a strangled cry. Juvia gasped and tried to reach him, but she was blocked by two more mages that appeared from the crowd around her. Their maic bullets weren't very effective as they passed through her water body but the mages were still a pain to deal with as one of them used water magic.

When she had finally dealt with them, she rushed to where she had seen her ally fall. She was only in time to see the mess that the dark guild had made of his corpse. Furiously, she rubbed her eyes and ducked just in time to dodge the spear flung at her from behind. She didn't have the time to grieve now. She had to focus on staying alive.

Mage after mage faced her, and although none were challenging, they were begining to wear her down from sheer numbers. Eventually, through all the fighting, she saw Gray.

She started to run towards him, not relived and happy but horrified and scared. She wasn't scared for herself, not anymore. He seemed to be in a duel with a rock mage, one of the higher up members of the dark guilds, juding by her skill. Yet another member had a glowing sword composed of lightning aimed at his back. Over the sounds of explosions, screams and swords clashing, he couldn't hear her warning, so she rushed forwards.

Everything happened so slowly. It was like moving through water, everything was distorted. Everything exept Gray. Slowly, so slowly that her heart echoed in her head, frantic with the fear that she might not make it in time. Her hands reached out and shoved. Gray stumbled away, looking at her in horror.

Time seemed to go even slower as she saw the shards of rock lunge towards her, yet she felt pain before they got near her. The spear stabbed through her and sent agony lacing through every nerve in her body. Lightning, electricity... It burned, far worse than fire. She had no idea if she was screaming or not... Only that the rocks didn't hurt nearly as much.

Then she fell to the floor, eyes brimming with tears. Suddenly it was quiet. Through the water in her eyes, she could make out the beautiful, shimmering wall of ice, a perfect dome that had surrounded her. Her and Gray.

She blinked hard, not caring about the pain, she wanted his face to be the last thing she saw. Gray sank to his knees beside her, face unusually pale.

"Juvia?" He whispered, voice trembling.

"S... Sorry... Juvia is sorry." She rasped.

"No... You saved me. Damn it! Don't die, please Juvia... Don't leave me, _please_!" Gray begged.

"Juv- I... I-I want to say something." She said quietly, focusing on Gray's face. His eyes were blurred and it took her a second to realise he was crying.

"Sure, say anything. I'll- I'll listen, please just hang on!" He cried, clutching her hand.

"I... I love you..." She managed to say. Gray sobbed harder, holding her hand close to his heart, and dimly, she was aware of it beating.

"I'm so, so, sorry for being so awkward for so long." He sniffed. "I love you too, Juvia... I always have... Please forgive me... If I... I-If I hadn't been such a-a moron, we could've had... So much more time together." He choked between tears.

"I'd have waited forever. I still will. I'll wait... Forever." She murmured, the pain was still there, but she was managing to contain it. In her last moments, Juvia lived her dream. She finally kissed Gray, she finally knew that he loved her.

Slowly, her hands went cold and limp, her eyes turned glassy. Hands shaking, Gray closed her eyes and laid her gently on the ground. The shield of ice shattered into glimmering fragments as Gray's scream of loss echoed across the battlefield.

The battle finally ended. Nobody was smiling, almost everyone had lost someone. Lucy was held in Natsu's arms as she sobbed. Fairy Tail had gathered around Juvia's body. The once lively water mage was still and cold, eyes closed and expression holding a tiny smile. The mages cried in silence, already feeling the sharp pain of loss. Natsu studied the floor, eyes blurred with tears, arms wrapped firmly around Lucy, who had her face burried in his scarf. Gajeel, too weak to attack the ground screamed his rage and loss, but the words didn't register. There were so many groups of mages clustered around their dead or dying guild mates. Erza.. Erza didn't know yet. She was by Millianna's side, along with Kagura and the other Mermaid Heel's guild members who had come.

There was a broken wail, from on of the other guilds had started sobbing. Everyone was drowning in greif, yet none of this compared to Gray. He knelt by Juvia's side, brushing her hair away from her face with such a heartbreaking tenderness that it was painful to watch. Fingers shaking, Gray held onto Juvia's pale hand. He didn't turn when he heard the footsteps approach behind him, he already knew.

Lyon sunk to his knees. "She... Juvia's dead?" He asked, voice quivering in an awful mixture of greif and disbelief. Gray slowly nodded, eyes not once leaving Juvia's face. He knew the punch was coming, that the force behind it was hollow, but it hurt. Not the blow, but the words.

"How... How could you let this happen?" He howled, "You... You swore you'd protect her, idiot! Damn it, HOW?" He broke off, sobbing. Gray hadn't stopped looking at Juvia. Every second it was like a dagger twisting in his heart.

"I don't know." He said so quietly it was almost silent. "I just don't know..."

They burnt shrouds days after, as one massive funeral. Word hadn't yet reached their guilds, the members would have to tell them. Virgo had made the shrouds, summoned by Lucy under that watchful eye of Natsu and Erza.

Kittens, asleep and peaceful for Millianna. Mountains, strong yet beautiful for Jura. A contrast of storm clouds for Orga, dark billowing clouds and white lightning. Soft snow clouds, carefully crafted flakes for Eve. Many more... So many that the colours blurred, falling reflected in the tears of those assembled, clad in bandages. Finally, blue, a deep glorious azure tinted with gold to suggest sunlight and warmth, like the heart of the water mage. So warm and caring. Maybe she watched down on them from above.

The guild's cheers stopped mid way when they saw the state of their returning party. Still covered in bandages, and missing someone. They didn't get through telling the story without crying. Everyone's story was different. Everyone had seen someone die. Gajeel has seen the great iron rock Jura fall... Lucy had fought alongside Hibiki and failed to save Eve. Erza and Kagura were too late and ended up avenging Millianna. Natsu had used his lightning flame dragon mode too much after fighting with a group of mages and seeing each of them fall.

None of them escaped without pain. They'd carry this with them for the rest of their lives. Eventually, they'd learn to smile again. Eventually they'd find love again. They were there for each other.

Yet the Fairy Tail guild was completely silent when it rained.

 **A/N I just want to quickly explain why Gray was slightly OOC where Juvia died. I just wanted to show how badly her death affected him. Hope you all enjoyed reading!**

 **-Indigo**


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